Staff Member

We're blaming apple because they designed it, and the contracted the company to manufacture it and they presumably did the testing for it. Why should we blame the carrier. Plus we all know that AT&T is apple's lapdog Apple is the driving force in that relationship.

We're blaming apple because they designed it, and the contracted the company to manufacture it and they presumably did the testing for it. Why should we blame the carrier. Plus we all know that AT&T is apple's lapdog Apple is the driving force in that relationship.

This is all on apple.

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Yes Apple deserves most of the blame but before any carrier releases a cell phone they put it through thorough testing. AT&T probably would have experienced this issue at some point in their testing, assuming they do test, and should have voiced their concerns.

I agree AT&T does whatever Apple pretty much wants with regards to the iPhone however if they know about the issue and still agree to release it then they also deserve to have some blame thrown their way.

people like you should be blamed for trying to blame others. Apple would have control every inch of the way leading upto release of iphone 4 and well pretty much everything. Seems like they even control your judgement.. FFS.

What happened to carrier testing? Im sure AT&T does their own testing or they are atleast a part of testing the iPhone on their network in conjunction with Apple.

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Hands-off tests. When ATT tested the radio on the first iPhone, they were taken into Apple and only allowed access to test units without the real UI. It's quite likely that all technical testing is done with hands-off test rigs... the usual device and dummy setup.

Cases. For a month or two before sales, a couple of hundred field testers use the device. Unfortunately it looks like everyone was required to use a case to hide the new look. (The original iPhone was also hidden within socks to make it look like a non-phone iPod.)

Even if testers did notice, two more factors worked against piecing it together:

Call drops are not uncommon on ATT and thus would not seem unusual as they would on say, Verizon.

Apple's culture of secrecy means people aren't allowed to just chat about new devices in the hallways, where enough experience sharing could've brought the problem to light.

Hands-off tests. When ATT tested the radio on the first iPhone, they were taken into Apple and only allowed access to test units without the real UI. It's quite likely that all technical testing is done with hands-off test rigs... the usual device and dummy setup.

Cases. For a month or two before sales, a couple of hundred field testers use the device. Unfortunately it looks like everyone was required to use a case to hide the new look. (The original iPhone was also hidden within socks to make it look like a non-phone iPod.)

Even if testers did notice, two more factors worked against piecing it together:

Call drops are not uncommon on ATT and thus would not seem unusual as they would on say, Verizon.

Apple's culture of secrecy means people aren't allowed to just chat about new devices in the hallways, where enough experience sharing could've brought the problem to light.

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Makes complete sense. Like someone else said, AT&T does what Apple says. Part of the problem is Apple's secrecy. They are so intent on 100% secrecy, this time it came back to bite them in the rear.

So, this really is a stealth AT&T sucks and Verizon should have the iPhone thread?

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No, I actually don't have any issues with AT&T Their service has been pretty good here in FL. Fact remains carrier testing should be thorough and if a carrier finds any issues with a phone they should delay it's production/release and have the phone manufacturer fix it.

No, I actually don't have any issues with AT&T Their service has been pretty good here in FL. Fact remains carrier testing should be thorough and if a carrier finds any issues with a phone they should delay it's production/release and have the phone manufacturer fix it.

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Having worked for a major phone manufacturer I can share two things.

1) Some phones are created with heavy carrier feedback as to what features they want or don't want in the phone. And because of how their networks work - what the software needs as far as specs. Apple doesn't work that way. Apple drives the ship completely. Clearly they communicate with carriers to make sure software is compatible with networks and such (a lot less of a concern these days with smart phones and the ability to have carrier profiles that are customized vs the old days)

2) By the time the carrier gets the phones to test - they are already deep into production at a point where stopping production would be incredibly costly. If there was an issue - the manufacturer (in this case Apple) would call in a "bean counter" to determine cost of change in manufacturing vs cost of returns/loss.

1) Some phones are created with heavy carrier feedback as to what features they want or don't want in the phone. And because of how their networks work - what the software needs as far as specs. Apple doesn't work that way. Apple drives the ship completely. Clearly they communicate with carriers to make sure software is compatible with networks and such (a lot less of a concern these days with smart phones and the ability to have carrier profiles that are customized vs the old days)

2) By the time the carrier gets the phones to test - they are already deep into production at a point where stopping production would be incredibly costly. If there was an issue - the manufacturer (in this case Apple) would call in a "bean counter" to determine cost of change in manufacturing vs cost of returns/loss.

A smart move on Steve's part, rather than his "it's a non issue" comment, would have been to say that "in field testing we noticed no issues or problems with the iPhone 4". But he didn't.

The better Apple PR move would have been "Maybe it's the carrier because it's certainly not the design of the phone". He reminds me of Nixon: "I am not a crook". Yeah Steve, we know how that turned out. (not saying Steve is a crook...hmmm)

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